Immune response of broiler chickens supplemented with prebiotic from Sacharomyces cerevisiae challenged with Salmonella enteritidis or Minnesota

SUMMARY Salmonella enterica has more than 2,500 different serovars that have been described as causes of human infections, and S. enterica serovar Enteritidis is the most prevalent of these serovars. In some regions in Brazil, S. enterica serovar Minnesota was prevalent in 37.93% of broiler samples. This study evaluated the effect of a prebiotic (PREB) based on mannan oligosaccharide on the immune response of broilers challenged against Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) or Minnesota (SM). PREB supplementation increased the weight gain and reduced Salmonella recovered and mRNA gene expression of IL12 in livers of SE-challenged broilers, but did not prevent colonization by SM in the liver at 16 h after challenge. At the time of challenge, birds supplemented with PREB had higher lymphocyte scores in the lamina propria, villi edema, and dilation, suggesting an inflammatory reaction when compared to a non-supplemented group. PREB supplementation could prevent SE colonization in the livers of broilers 16 h after challenge; however, it would have no effect on SM challenged birds. The challenge with serovar Enteritidis induces higher IL12 mRNA expression levels than challenge with SM.